Still no charges filed against unnamed shooter in death of Penn Hills High School student

The vigils are over. So is the funeral. Nearly two months after 16-year-old Deven Holloway was shot and killed outside Linton Middle School in Penn Hills all that remains are the grief and the questions.

Among them: Why have no charges been filed against the still unnamed shooter?

As recently as two weeks ago, area Facebook users were still asking questions about the March 28 shooting. Who is the shooter? Is he the son of a police officer? Is he White? Is he Black? And, even if it was self-defense as claimed, why hasn’t he, at least, been charged with carrying a gun on school property?

But given a May 10 statement from District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala that he believes the 22-year-old shooter appeared to act in self-defense, those questions may remain unanswered, at least publicly.

REMEMBERANCE—Ameerah Sledge, left, and Aleece Brazil, light candles to remember Penn Hills High School sophomore Deven Holloway, at the location where he died, March 28. DA Stephen Zappala says the 22-year-old who shot Holloway acted in self-defense.

Zappala said Holloway and the shooter met for some kind of drug deal, but he can’t prove that. The shooter, who is from Plum and legally licensed to carry a concealed weapon, turned himself in later that day.
“(The evidence) points toward self-defense,” Zappala said.

Attorney Phil DiLucente, who represents the unidentified man, said his client did not know Holloway and went to the middle school to play some pick-up basketball. He said Holloway attacked his client near the basketball courts and that his client fired only after being attacked.

Allegheny County police said a gun was found near Holloway’s body but did not say to whom it belonged. Penn Hills Police Chief Howard Burton said Holloway never had any contact with his department.